Chapter 244: Younger Sister is Omnipotent
Yu Hongxiu, with her mouth wide open in surprise, forgot all about maintaining her noblewoman’s image. She grabbed Bai Ruozhu and asked, "A poison, really? Are you sure?"
Bai Ruozhu nodded seriously, "The poison is unusual, moreover it would have to be administered over a long period to its target, so this issue is not a simple one."
While Yu Hongxiu had grown up in a grand manor in Jiangnan, unlike the hotheaded Mr. Xie, after brief consideration, she nodded and said, "You’ve thought about this very thoroughly. I seem to have brought trouble upon myself for no reason."
Bai Ruozhu patted her hand back in reassurance, saying, "You can’t blame yourself for this, who would have thought we could encounter something like this in a small town?"
Yu Hongxiu still felt somewhat guilty. "It seems that I can’t go around meddling in things again in the future. Even though the Li family can’t harm us, isn’t there a saying about regional snakes overpowering a foreign dragon? One really can’t afford to thoughtlessly make enemies." She sighed and added, "Don’t think our town is just some ordinary little settlement. Located in the northwest, with the Turkic Country to the north and a barbarian tribe to the west, this is oftentimes a stopover on the way to Beiyu City. Beiyu City has tight defenses but this place is the most unsettled."
Having lived in the countryside before with the common people, Bai Ruozhu had really not encountered these sorts of things. Hearing this, she felt even more strongly that some kind of conspiracy was hidden behind Lady Li’s poisoning.
"Only Prefect Li is here and not the County Magistrate. That’s because the County Magistrate was transferred," Yu Hongxiu lowered her voice and spoke with some mystery, "I have heard that the Magistrate was not promoted but instead was not trusted by his superiors and was shuffled elsewhere. This can almost be considered a demotion."
Bai Ruozhu was very surprised. She had never come across such things before. Even if her second brother knew about them, he had never been willing to tell her.
"Will they appoint a new County Magistrate?" asked a somewhat anxious Bai Ruozhu.
"No, Li Shunsheng is about to be promoted, I’ve heard that his appointment should be arriving in a few days," Yu Hongxiu kept her voice low. "People outside have been saying that the ’Office of the Provincial Governor’ has attached great importance to this issue. If Li Shunsheng gets promoted, it’s either because he has strong support behind him or he has passed the ’Office of the Provincial Governor’s’ investigation."
For some reason, Bai Ruozhu’s heart jumped and she immediately thought of the man surnamed Jiang. She didn’t know if it was because she was too sensitive or her intuition was particularly good, but she believed that there was an 80% chance that man surnamed Jiang was from the ’Office of the Provincial Governor’.
She had heard that in ancient times, the ’Office of the Provincial Governor’ would investigate in secret, perhaps that is why the man surnamed Jiang was wearing a mask?
Bai Ruozhu shook her head, thinking what she was doing going down this route, what did other people’s jobs have to do with her? Even if he was something similar to 007, it wasn’t her responsibility to worry about it. Even if she did know, she should act as if she did not. Since ancient times, the more people who knew about something, the more likely they were to die quickly.
However, she felt somewhat guilty. After considering it for a moment, she quietly said to Yu Hongxiu: "Li is a benefactor to my family. If I were to just watch as his wife was poisoned, I wouldn’t be able to bear it."
"Didn’t you say you wouldn’t get involved because you can’t offend the people behind the scenes?" Yu Hongxiu gave her a look. Even though this girl was smart, she was too softhearted.
Bai Ruozhu awkwardly chuckled, "I do think that we shouldn’t directly tell Lady Li. She’s not able to hide her emotions at all—the slightest fluctuation is written all over her face. What happens if she makes a scene after finding out? The person who poisoned her would take it out on us if they can’t deal with her, right?"
Actually, it was more likely that the person would retaliate against her. Who asked her to be a commoner, right?
"We might as well observer stealthily, primarily looking at Mr. Li’s attitude. If he doesn’t know, and he strongly defends his wife, we could subtly hint to him." Bai Ruozhu suggested.
Yu Hongxiu pursed her lips. "What if the killer is Mr. Li himself? What if he despises his wife because he sees a bright future ahead?"
Bai Ruozhu shook her head. "I don’t think so. Furthermore, if the ’Office of the Provincial Governor’ was really investigating him, would he dare to do such a thing?"
Yu Hongxiu nodded in agreement. "You make sense. Let’s observe first before deciding anything."
"The poison is quite slow-acting. Even if half a year passes, I can still come up with a way to cure the poison. But if the person behind this is cold-hearted enough to switch to severe poison, even if I help Lady Li cure the poison now, I won’t be able to protect her for her entire life. Maybe we can use this opportunity to discover more." Bai Ruozhu said, rolling her eyes.
"You be careful, don’t get yourself too involved." Yu Hongxiu glared at her sternly.
Bai Ruozhu was originally afraid—afraid of trouble, of death, of involving her family. However, pretending to know nothing while watching a life slowly fade away was something that would keep her awake at night. Therefore, she carefully considered it for an entire afternoon, deciding to proceed carefully under the radar. If she could save Lady Li, she certainly would—but if it was really impossible, she would not risk her own and her family’s safety. After all, she was no saint.
A few days later, it rained. Although the Bai family had set up a rain canopy, the number of pedestrians on the street decreased affecting their business. However, they were still managing to make ends meet.
As the saying goes, "After every autumn rain, the weather turns colder". After the rain, there was a noticeable chill in the air and the arrival of winter was undeniable.
The members of the Bai family all put on their new padded jackets. Now that the family had money, Bai Ruozhu instantly disallowed Lin Ping’er from taking apart the old jackets for washing. They bought new cotton and fine cotton cloth, then she teamed up with her mother and Fang Guizhi to make new padded jackets for the family.
Bai Yihong disagreed adamantly at first, saying that it was enough for the child and women to have new jackets. They were three grown men and they weren’t afraid of the cold—an old cotton jacket would be fine once it was plumped up.
Bai Ruozhu glared at him and said, "Dad, we make money to live a better life. If you make money but are unwilling to spend it on food or clothes, what’s the point in all the hard work?"
Lin Ping’er smacked Bai Yihong, "Just listen to our daughter. Whose stubboness in this house can surpass hers?"
Bai Yihong reluctantly stopped disagreeing. When he put on his new padded jacket the next day, his face was filled with smiles. He was clearly in a great mood as the new jacket was extremely comfortable.
While the family was making the new padded jackets, Lin Ping’er also made one for Wan Caiyue, using Fang Guizhi’s measurements. Fang Guizhi and Wan Caiyue were roughly the same height and weight, so the jacket should fit her perfectly.
When the weather cleared up, Lin Ping’er wrapped the new padded jacket, as well as some food and dimsum made by Bai Ruozhu, in a bundle. She gave it to Bai Zehao and said, "You go to the Wan family and give them this gift. Also, take these three bundles. One is for the old mansion, one for Mr. Wu, and one for Zeji."
Bai Zehao’s face had turned red down to his neck. He stuttered, "Mom, we...we still need help at the stall. How about you go to the Wan family?"
Lin Ping’er laughed so hard that her mouth almost reached her ears. "You’re still feeling embarrassed, aren’t you? Aren’t you two getting married this month? What’s there to feel embarrassed about? Do you want to let your wife freeze?"
Bai Ruozhu chuckled on the side. Even without the jacket from their house, Wan Caiyue wouldn’t freeze, her mother was definitely exaggerating.
In the end, with his face still red, Bai Zehao picked up the goods and left. When he came back in the afternoon, his face was full of joy and he exclaimed, "You really do have a wonderful foresight, little sister!"
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